I've been thinking about this day since I woke up.
Holy Saturday is often forgotten. Jesus didn't die today. He didn't rise today. Nothing noteworthy seems to have happened. But still, I can't help but think a few scattered thoughts, and scribble them down quickly before scampering to work.
Is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all?
I see the disciples asking a question like this. For hundreds of years the prophets foretold of a Messiah. There were undoubtedly those who claimed to be one. Jesus did. And people believed him. I can imagine the hesitation. "I'm going to follow this guy, but he says he's God. I'm pretty much a heretic for believing this, but I'm going to." And then, Jesus dies. What now?
Hope is in question. We just hoped that this time, it would be it. We would have our Messiah. Today, maybe it would've been better if he never came. Because I hoped. And now I hurt. I don't know if I can trust myself to believe in another Messiah, to love, again.
A return to Advent
I've never made the connection. And I still think this fits in the relationship scheme.
For a while, you're waiting for the right person to come along. Then, you find someone, date a few years, and it's great! Suddenly, it ends. And you're left waiting again.
Jesus shows up, he and his followers have a few years' relationship, then it's over. And the disciples are left waiting again.
Holy Saturday is a day of dashed hope. It's the hope of loving and living shattered to pieces. Believers are made to look foolish. They don't know where they should go next. There was no contingency plan. "We were going to be together forever."
How does Holy Saturday hit you?
6 comments:
This is the day to rely on hope....to rely on faith. To know that we don't always get what we want right when we want it.
This is the sweet time of waiting.... I'm just glad everyone is on the same page together today...waiting in hopeful anticipation.
Hmmm.. this sounds like a blog for me too. Stay tuned. Thanks for sparking something!
I don't think the disciples were on the same page. I believe they were at a loss of hope, of words, of their savior. They didn't understand tomorrow would be the resurrection. That was not a luxury they had.
It's okay to spend one day out of the year with your hopes dashed. David couldn't honestly say, "I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation," unless he was willing to accept, "The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me."
you know this sounds more about dating then jesus, maybe just a veneer of Jesus. I do think today is a wonderful day to reflect on Jesus, although I am more using it to put the finishing touches on my Easter sermon then anything else.
Honestly, Holy Saturday is usually great for me 'cause it's not Good Friday, which always kicks my butt.
It's a time when I process all the pain from Friday and then look forward to the joy on Sunday.
I don't have to wallow with dashed hopes 'cause we know what's coming next...
Chris- I agree with you that the disciples weren't on same page as us, the "us" I was referring to was "us" as Christians today can share in that same hope on Saturday.
Thanks for your thoughts, everyone.
As far as the "hopeful anticipation" and "we know what coming next," I really don't like thinking like that on Holy Saturday. Call me massechistic, but I actually find the need to have my hope shattered for a day. I like to experience that despair as fully as possible.
Actually, because I did that, Sunday was brighter than it ever has been. I felt like I was there with the disciples. I was surprised that the tomb was empty. I was surprised at the thought of Jesus really rising from the dead.
I also wish I could have fleshed out that analogy a little better, because it was better in my head than in the 3 minutes of typing I had to get it down on cyber-paper. Ah well. There's always next year.
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